Why it works: Veal and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,930 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓
Veal Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grind the veal and pork together.
Mix and shape
In a bowl, mix the ground meat with eggs, milk, crushed crackers, pepper, and salt.
Shape the mixture into a loaf and place it in a baking dish.
Bake
Bake for about 1 hour or until cooked through.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Veal + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,930 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Pork + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,386 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it a meaty, firm texture.
- Pork fat
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the lean veal from drying out as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the meat together and help the loaf set firm when baked.
- Milk
- Adds moisture, keeping the loaf tender rather than dense.
- Crackers
- Absorb liquid and soften, helping hold the loaf together and stay moist.
The step that matters
Bake until cooked through. Ground meat loaves can look done on the outside while the centre remains undercooked. Baking until fully cooked through ensures the proteins set and the loaf is safe to eat.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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